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1998 Congo Airlines Boeing 727 crash

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1998 Congo Airlines Boeing 727 crash
The aircraft involved in the accident while still in service with Oman Police, in 1989
Shootdown
Date10 October 1998 (1998-10-10)
SummaryCrashed into a jungle after being shot down
SiteDemocratic Republic of the Congo
Aircraft
Aircraft typeBoeing 727-30
OperatorCongo Airlines
Registration9Q-CSG
Flight originKindu Airport
DestinationN'djili Airport
Occupants40-41 (DRC)[a]
Passengers37 (DRC)
Crew3-4 (DRC)
Fatalities40-41 (DRC)[a]
Survivors0

On 10 October 1998, a Congo Airlines Boeing 727 flying a non-scheduled domestic passenger flight from Kindu to Kinshasa was shot down by rebel forces shortly after taking off. The plane later crashed in a jungle killing all occupants on board the aircraft.[a]

Background

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Aircraft

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The aircraft involved, manufactured in 1965, was a 33-year-old Boeing 727-30 registered as 9Q-CSG with serial number 18369. It was powered by Pratt & Whitney JT8D-7 engines.[5] BBC News correspondents said that aircraft leased from Congo Airlines (CAL) and Lignes Aériennes Congolaises were frequently used to ferry troops and war materials.[6]

Passengers and crew

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There were 40 to 50 occupants on board the aircraft.[a] According to the Government of the DRC, there were 40 to 41 occupants on board the aircraft, including 37 passengers and 3 to 4 crew.[7][8] The passengers were civilian evacuees mainly consisting of women and children.[9][10]

Incident

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On 10 October 1998, the aircraft was scheduled to fly from Kinshasa to Kindu with the departure scheduled at 7 a.m. UTC. After its arrival in Kindu, the aircraft was scheduled to depart for Kinshasa at 08:45. The flight left Kinshasa at 06:56 and arrived in Kindu at 08:26. At 08:51, the aircraft took off from Kindu Airport and subsequently turned left. Air traffic control (ATC) asked the pilot for his route, to which the pilot immediately relied that he had heard firing and would call back to confirm his report. The pilot then called back, confirming that the aircraft had been hit three minutes after takeoff, and issued an SOS that was heard at Mbuji-Mayi and by another aircraft. In the last contact, the pilot informed ATC that they planned on making an emergency landing around "Kisni point", located between Kindu and Lodja.[3]

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By 11 October, spotter aircraft had been unable to locate the flight. The airline said that the search had been called off for the day. A spokesman for the airline said the villagers near Kindu had claimed to have located the crash site but that poor visibility had hindered the search.[11]

Investigation

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"The pilot immediately notified us that the engines were on fire, that the plane had become uncontrollable and that he would attempt to make a landing straight ahead of him - and that was the last message that we received from our crew"

— Stavros Papaioannou[12] via BBC News.[6]

Military sources reported that a missile had shot down the aircraft.[3] Stavros Papaioannou, the president of Congo Airlines' management committee, said that in the pilot's last message, he had notified them that the plane's engines were on fire with the plane becoming uncontrollable and that he would attempt to land the aircraft "straight ahead of him.[6] The missile had reportedly struck one of the aircraft's rear engines shortly after taking off.[12][13]

Responsibility

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Tutsi rebels admitted that they had shot down the plane, claiming that the flight was carrying military supplies.[13] The leader of the rebel group said that the government had been using the aircraft to fly troops and ammunition to Kindu for several days.[6] They also warned that any aircraft that would attempt to land at Kindu Airport would be shot down.[14]

Although the region was in a state of war, air traffic was not closed at Kindu Airport or the airspace over the zone. According to international regulations, if an airport or airspace is closed, a NOTAM must be issued. Hence, an analysis by the Democratic Republic of the Congo concluded that per international conventions such as the Chicago Convention, "illicit acts of intervention" or the use of firearms against civilian aircraft "constitute violations against the safety of international civil aviation."[3]

Article 4 of the Chicago Convention states: "Misuse of civil aviation: Each contracting State agrees not to use civil aviation for any purpose inconsistent with the aims of this Convention." According to International Peace Information Service, dozens of civilian aircraft that were operating to and from the DRC along with the companies operating them were in violation of the provision as civilians were exposed with the risk of being shot down, as was the case with Congo Airlines' Boeing 727.[15]

According to the Office of Civil Aviation Security of the Federal Aviation Administration, the shootdown is not considered politically motivated due to the incident occurring in a conflict zone and the possibility of the aircraft being perceived as being used for military purposes.[16]: 36 

International Court of Justice

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On 23 June 1999, the DRC initiated proceedings against Rwanda, asking the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to adjudge and declare that Rwanda was "guilty of acts of armed aggression, massacres, human rights abuses, that Rwanda was in violation of international humanitarian law" and that it violated international conventions by shooting down the Congo Airlines Boeing 727. In January 2001, the DRC discontinued the proceedings.[17]

On 20 May 2002, the DRC again started proceedings against Rwanda which were "in large part similar to the [23 June] 1999 Application."[17] The DRC accused Rwanda of "'massive, serious and flagrant violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law' resulting from acts of armed aggression allegedly perpetrated by Rwanda on Congolese territory since August 1998." The DRC cited the shootdown of the Congo Airlines Boeing 727, among others,[18] and requested that the ICJ adjudge and declare that by shooting down the Congo Airlines Boeing 727, "Rwanda also violated the United Nations Charter, the Convention on International Civil Aviation of 7 December 1944 signed at Chicago, the Hague Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft of 16 December 1970 and the Montreal Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Civil Aviation of 23 September 1971[.]" Both parties were signatories of the Montreal Convention.[19]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d Multiple occupant/death counts cited:
    • 40 occupants/fatalities.[1]
    • 41 occupants/fatalities.[2]
    • 42 occupants/fatalities.[3]
    • 50 occupants/fatalities.[4]

References

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  1. ^
    • Bayles, Fred (13 August 2003). "Threat is 'no longer theoretical'". USA Today. p. 03A.
    • Bekker, Pieter H.F. (1 January 2003). "An Appraisal of the 2002 Judicial Activities of the International Court of Justice". Chinese Journal of International Law. 2 (1): 321–340. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.cjilaw.a000474. ISSN 1540-1650. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
    • Nsereko, Daniel D. Ntanda (2002). "Aggression under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court". Nordic Journal of International Law. 71 (4). Brill Publishers: 497–521. doi:10.1163/157181002100376125. eISSN 1571-8107. ISSN 0902-7351. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
  2. ^
  3. ^ a b c d Makonga, Monga Mulenda (13 October 1998). "Letter dated 13 October 1998 from the Chargé d'affaires a.i. of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council" (in French). Letter to the United Nations. New York City, US: United Nations. S/1998/945. Retrieved 18 June 2025 – via the United Nations Digital Library.
  4. ^
  5. ^ "Unlawful Interference Boeing 727-30 9Q-CSG, Saturday 10 June 1998". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
  6. ^ a b c d "World: No survivors found in Congo crash". BBC News. 11 October 1998. Archived from the original on 18 June 2025. Retrieved 18 June 2025.
  7. ^ Makonga, Monga Mulenda (6 November 1998). "Letter dated 6 November 1998 from the Permanent Representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council" (in French). Letter to the United Nations. New York City, US: United Nations. S/1998/1042. Retrieved 21 June 2025 – via the United Nations Digital Library.
  8. ^ "International Court Justice (ICJ): Case Concerning Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Rwanda)". International Legal Materials. 45 (3): 562–620. May 2006. doi:10.1017/S0020782900006343. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
  9. ^ Malu-Malu, Arthur (11 October 1998). "No survivors after rebels down airliner". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  10. ^ Gero, David (2009). Flights of terror: aerial hijack and sabotage since 1930 (2nd ed.). Somerset, UK ; Newbury Park, CA: Haynes Pub. p. 121. ISBN 978-1844256440.
  11. ^ "Congo Crash Site Sought". The New York Times. Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Reuters. 12 October 1998. p. A5. Archived from the original on 27 May 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  12. ^ a b "Congo rebels shoot down jet with 40 aboard". Edmonton Journal. Kalima, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Canadian Press. 11 October 1998. p. 4. Retrieved 21 June 2025 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  13. ^ a b Choi, Jin-Tai (28 September 2010). "Threats of MANPADS and Its Counter-Measures". International Journal of Contents. 6 (3): 89–96. doi:10.5392/IJoC.2010.6.3.089. eISSN 2093-7504. ISSN 1738-6764. Retrieved 18 June 2025.
  14. ^ "Rebels Shoot Down Jetliner in Eastern Congo". Los Angeles Times. Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Reuters. 11 October 1998. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
  15. ^ Danssaert, Peter; Finardi, Sergio (30 June 2011) [December 2010]. The Arms Flyers. Commercial Aviation, Human Rights, and the Business of War and Arms (PDF) (Report). Antwerp, Belgium, and Chicago, United States: International Peace Information Service. p. 46.
  16. ^ Criminal Acts Against Civil Aviation - 1998 (PDF). Office of Civil Aviation Security (Report). Washington, D.C., United States: Federal Aviation Administration. 1998. ADA366863. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 February 2025. Retrieved 17 June 2025 – via Defense Technical Information Center.
  17. ^ a b Evans, Malcom D; Brown, Chester (July 2003). "II. Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo (New Application: 2002) ( Democratic Republic of the Congo v Rwanda ) Provisional Measures, Order of 1 July 2002". International and Comparative Law Quarterly. 52 (3): 782–787. doi:10.1093/iclq/52.3.782. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
  18. ^ Bekker, Pieter H.F. (1 January 2003). "An Appraisal of the 2002 Judicial Activities of the International Court of Justice". Chinese Journal of International Law. 2 (1): 321–340. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.cjilaw.a000474. ISSN 1540-1650. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
  19. ^ "International Court of Justice (ICJ): Case Concerning Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo (New Application: 2002) (Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) v. Rwanda) (Request for the Indication of Provisional Measures)". International Legal Materials. 41 (5): 1175–1223. September 2002. doi:10.1017/S0020782900010433. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
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